Tag: Madeleine Moon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18551, for what reason his Department no longer holds records on trainee attendance and courses held; and what assessment he has made of the compliance of the disposal of those records with the policy and procedures set out in the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20817.

Mark Lancaster

I have asked officials to look into this matter. I will write to the hon. Member once I have received their report and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date a MR44 aircraft was delivered to and accepted by the RAF; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

None of the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft were delivered and accepted by the RAF. At the time the programme was cancelled it was 114 months late and nearly £800 million over budget.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what dates reviews have been carried out of his Department’s Complaints Protocol written in 2005; and what alterations have been made to that protocol as a result of each such review.

Mr Julian Brazier

The Ministry of Defence’s procedures when handling complaints from members of the general public is governed by the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman who issue government departments with guidance and advice on protocols when dealing with complaints from the general public, more specifically guidance around response times and handling. Since 2005, the Ministry of Defence has updated its internal instructions (Defence Internal Notice) in 2010 and 2015, both updates did not change internal protocols but made changes to points of contact and departmental structures where required.

The Ministry of Defence also operates procedures by which civil servants and Service personnel can make complaints. These are governed by separate policies respectively. For Service personnel the independent Service Complaints Ombudsman was established in 2015. Further information can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/armed-forces-service-complaints-process .

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK has ratified Montenegro’s accession to NATO; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan

The Government laid Montenegro’s Protocol of Accession before Parliament on 29 June 2016, under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. Following the summer recess, the Protocol completed its Parliamentary scrutiny period on 15 September. We are currently finalising the process to confirm the UK’s acceptance of the Protocol and allow us to deposit it with the US Government (depositary for the Treaty), as stipulated by the North Atlantic Treaty. We expect to complete this shortly and look forward to welcoming Montenegro as the 29th NATO Ally, once all current NATO Allies have ratified according to their own national processes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the relationship between clean water and sanitation in schools and girls’ school attendance in developing countries; and if she will make a statement.

Grant Shapps

Clean water and adequate sanitation in schools ensure safe and hygienic environments for learning. The UK Government supports the view that providing toilets at schools for girls is necessary to provide privacy and dignity. There is some evidence that WASH interventions in schools do improve attendance by girls but much evidence points to other important factors as well.

In 2011, DFID published a systematic review of this issue. This determined that separate facilities for girls were likely to encourage their attendance at school, but insufficient alone to increase attendance and that there are many influential factors, including social and economic pressures on poor families. DFID therefore takes a holistic approach to this issue.

The UK played a key role in ensuring that the recently agreed Sustainable Development Goals include a dedicated goal on water which aims to ensure universal access to water and sanitation by 2030.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 17679, for what reasons the maintenance costs for FDTC Grantown-on-Spey cannot be broken down; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Julian Brazier

Maintenance costs for Grantown-On-Spey are accounted within the larger RAF Lossiemouth budget and costs could not be broken down and identified.

More generally, I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans (Mark Lancaster) gave on 7 December 2015 to Question number 18570. Some costs for some previous years may be available and Ministry of Defence officials are reviewing available data from a variety of sources. The Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of his letter in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the air to air refuelling capability is of the P8 MPA with the UK Voyager fleet; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 3 December 2015 to Question 17840.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will request the Senior Information Officer at (a) MOD Grantown-on-Spey, (b) MOD Llanrwst, (c) MOD Fairbourne and (d) MOD Crickhowell to provide a list of what records are held at that location of numbers of attendees on training courses, costs maintenance improvement and development costs, building of storage facilities and travel and accommodation costs for years prior to 2015.

Mark Lancaster

I refer the hon. Member to the answers I have provided previously in relation to the RAF FDAT review. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 November 2015 to Question 17694 regarding the number of attendees on training courses; the answer I gave on 2 December 2015 to Question 17679 regarding the maintenance, improvement and development costs in addition to my letter to you dated 17 December 2015; the answer I gave on 4 December 2015 to Question 17675 regarding the building of storage facilities and the answer I gave on 4 December 2015 to Question 17680 regarding travel and accommodation costs.

In accordance with JSP 441, the Department only retains documents worthy of permanent preservation which are judged to have short or long term corporate value.

As the hon. Member will be aware, we are currently reviewing some of the previous answers previously given to her.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much support work there has been for the order for the Boeing Poseidon P-8A (a) by value and (b) by number of jobs that will be undertaken by employees (i) in the UK, (ii) in the US and (iii) elsewhere; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 April 2016 to Question 33058 to the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 35843, whether chapels owned and administered by the Ministry of Defence are part of the pilot project exploring the registration of civil marriages and partnerships, including same-sex unions.

Penny Mordaunt

No chapels owned or administered by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) are part of the pilot project exploring the registration of civil marriages and partnerships or same-sex unions.

The MOD supports same-sex marriage and is committed to ensuring that couples are not disadvantaged by their service. We have concluded a study of serving LGBT personnel to obtain their view on this matter.

Should a same-sex military couple wish to have a civil marriage ceremony on the Defence Estate, it is a requirement that the same access must be granted to all members of the public. The project is attempting to indentify suitable sites for this purpose.

Should a same-sex couple from the Armed Forces wish to get married in a military Chapel they must follow the rules surrounding the marriage of same sex couples (Military or Civilian) in Military chapels, which are laid out in ‘The Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Use of Armed Forces’ Chapels) Regulations 2014′. At present none of the Churches that send Chaplains to the Armed Forces have opted into the provision of marriage for same-sex couples. Some may seek to change their policy in the future.